Mercer County Community College (MCCC) president Dr. Jianping Wang announced Friday that she would retire after her contract expires next summer.
Dr. Jianping WangWang, who is president of the New Jersey college, had previously expressed a desire to remain on through the schools’ reaccreditation process, which will be completed in spring 2023. Wang’s resignation letter mentioned her displeasure at contract renegotiations which included a possible presidential transition before reaccreditation, according to The Trentonian.
During her tenure, Wang has been credited with guiding the institution through the COVID-19 crisis, improving MCCC’s finances, and elevating the community college’s profile. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. In April 2019, Wang received a vote of no confidence from the MCCC Faculty Association. Although an independent performance review gave Wang all around high marks, board of trustees’ chairman Mark Matzen ran his own, self-created review of Wang among a select group of vice presidents.
Matzen’s query asked a highly subjective questions: what kind of animal is Wang most like? Of the options listed, one said Wang most resembled a “dragon—highly aggressive at all times.” Board members raised ire at the question’s cultural insensitivity.
Matzen said the question was “a mistake on my part. I take full responsibility for that.”
The chairman of the Mercer County Board of Commissioners, Samuel Frisby, said that Wang’s retirement was a “big loss.”
